The prognosis for high-grade brain tumors, such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is extremely poor with a median survival of about one year from diagnosis (Ichimura K, Ohgaki H, Kleihues P, Collins V P (2004) Molecular pathogenesis of astrocytic tumours. J Neurooncol 70:137-160; Louis D N, Ohgaki H, Wiestler O D, Cavenee W K (2007) World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of the Nervous System, 4th Edition. Lyon: IARC). Several biological characteristics contribute to the lethality of GBM tumors, including their uncontrolled proliferation in the restricted cranial space, and their highly dispersive nature (Ichimura K, Ohgaki H, Kleihues P, Collins V P (2004) Molecular pathogenesis of astrocytic tumours. J Neurooncol 70:137-160; Louis D N, Ohgaki H, Wiestler O D, Cavenee W K (2007) World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of the Nervous System, 4th Edition. Lyon: IARC; Louis D N (2006) Molecular pathology of malignant gliomas. Annu Rev Pathol 1:97-117). Surgical resection remains the primary treatment for glial tumors (Furnari F B, Fenton T, Bachoo R M, Mukasa A, Stommel J M, Stegh A, Hahn W C, Ligon K L, Louis D N, Brennan C, Chin L, DePinho R A, Cavenee W K (2007) Malignant astrocytic glioma: genetics, biology, and paths to treatment. Genes Dev 21:2683-2710) and more complete resection has been linked to improved survival (Sanai N, Berger M S (2008) Glioma extent of resection and its impact on patient outcome. Neurosurgery 62:753-764; discussion 264-756). However, by the time of diagnosis, GBM cells have usually dispersed extensively into the surrounding brain, making it difficult for the surgeon to precisely localize the tumor margin (Nakada M, Nakada S, Demuth T, Tran N L, Hoelzinger D B, Berens M E (2007) Molecular targets of glioma invasion. Cell Mol Life Sci 64:458-478). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided stereotactic techniques are typically utilized to maximize resection. However, MRI is limited in its ability to detect sparse tumor cells invading surrounding normal brain (Sorensen A G, Batchelor T T, Wen P Y, Zhang W T, Jain R K (2008) Response criteria for glioma. Nat Clin Pract Oncol 5:634-644). Since nearly all glioblastomas recur locally, better detection would likely improve surgical resection resulting in enhanced patient survival.